Chapter Thirteen
Annalise
Why does it feel like I’m ditching the possibility of one prison for another?
It wasn’t that she was comparing Caine and Lincoln’s boss. Even though she didn’t feel she trusted Caine fully yet, the two were worlds apart. It wasn’t even fair to think about putting them on the same chart. Caine had a kind side, and she suspected he preferred not to use people when he could, choosing to be their friends, not their bosses.
There was an undeniable aura of power around him, however, and that was what kept her at an arm’s length or more. She’d felt power before, and it scared her. It was exactly what she’d run away from. Well, that and the abuse of power, particularly when it was directed at her. Whether Caine would do something similar or not remained to be seen. She hoped not, but if her hard life had taught her anything, it was that she couldn’t trust anyone. Not even those who appeared to care for her. They were the worst, with the pain of their betrayal sliding home the hardest.
“Are you ready?”
The house was dark. No light came in from outside even if the shades hadn’t been closed tight since the morning. Few lights were on, and even those that shone at all were dim. They didn’t want to create any shadows. Giving away as little as possible to Lincoln would be their best bet.
“No. He’s out there, you know.” She stared at the blinds for the front window. Somewhere beyond them Lincoln was waiting to see what they would do.
“Maybe he is. Maybe he isn’t. But either way, the longer we stay here, the more trouble we’re going to be in. We can’t do very much from this location. At my place we’ll be safe and secure.”
That’s what she was afraid of. Trapped inside with no way out, it was an all too familiar feeling. One she’d never wanted to experience again. It was why she had to do what was necessary. It was why she had to leave Caine behind. He could never know, of course, but she planned to lose him in the dark and flee town on her own, without anyone the wiser.
“Let’s get ready.” Caine led the way, putting on his shoes and preparing to head out.
The SUV was at the bottom of the driveway. It wasn’t far. He would go first, scouting the way, while Annalise would follow close behind. Except she had no plans of doing that.
Putting on her own shoes, she cursed herself. She should never have come to Barton City. It had been a blind hope that maybe she could find her birth family, that maybe she would finally fit in. But as always, it had led to trouble. Anything calling itself her family had only ever made her life worse, and the sooner Annalise accepted that for good, the sooner she could strike back out on her own and leave this all behind. She was best alone, no matter how enticing and appealing some of the company may present as. Her eyes traveled freely up and down Caine’s body as she thought about him.
It was better this way, she told herself. Better for everyone.
Or was it just better for her?
“Stay out of sight,” Caine told her as he unlocked the door, leaning against it just in case.
“Right.” She shuffled to her right and waited.
Caine nodded, opened the door, and peered out. She held her breath, but nothing happened, and a moment later Caine slipped from the house without a sound. His ability to move silently despite his size was impressive. Annalise stayed at the door, but she didn’t hear a single thing until he returned moments later.
“It’s clear. I didn’t see him or anything. Let’s go now, before it changes.”
They left the house behind, walking quickly to the SUV. It wasn’t far, maybe fifty feet. Her heart was pounding in her chest as they hit the driveway, splitting up to either side of the dark red vehicle. Lincoln had to be somewhere nearby. There was no way they were going to get away that easily.
Headlights flared as a car parked along the street edge came to life three houses down.
“Go!” Caine shouted, diving for the door.
Annalise cursed. She hadn’t planned on getting in the car with him. That wasn’t how it was supposed to go! A big engine roared and tires screeched. There were no other options; she had to get in the SUV with Caine. Angrily she pulled the door open and got in. Caine was already throwing it in reverse, backing out of the driveway before she could close her door.
“Hold on!” he shouted as Lincoln’s vehicle, a bigger SUV painted midnight black like her hair, slammed into them.
She shrieked, holding on for dear life as the vehicle spun around until it was pointed in the direction Lincoln had come from.
“Amateur,” Caine muttered, putting the vehicle in gear and gunning it.
She glanced behind them. Lincoln was already turning his vehicle around, but they had gained precious seconds from the maneuver.
“How the hell did you know he was going to do that?”
“I didn’t for sure,” Caine said. “But it made sense to what might happen. It’s why I stopped backing us out, leaving the rear end for him to hit.” He glanced over at her. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. A little shaken up, but it wasn’t as hard as I expected. I thought airbags would go off, everything like that.”
“We’re lucky they didn’t. We might not have gotten away.”
“Couldn’t you just beat Lincoln up?” she asked. “I saw the way you manhandled him earlier.”
“No,” Caine said darkly. “If he approaches me again, I’ll kill him.”
She shivered, recognizing truth when she heard it. There was no bravado in that sentence; Caine was simply telling the truth. The world might be better off without Lincoln in it, but Annalise could tell Caine didn’t want to kill. Even the thought of it bothered him.
“You know Lincoln won’t hesitate to hurt you, or even kill you, right?”
“He can’t touch me,” Caine stated. “It’s you I’m worried about. You’re wea…errr, more exposed than I am.”
She arched an eyebrow. “Really? You’re six and a half feet of walking steel muscles. I’m five foot nothing. I practically stick out more around than I do up. Trust me, I think I’m far less exposed than you are.”
Caine didn’t respond, but the set of his jaw implied that he didn’t believe her. What wasn’t he telling her? Why did the threat of Lincoln seem like an impotent threat to the giant in the driver’s seat?
I wish he would just tell me.
But Annalise knew that to get information, she was going to have to give information, and she wasn’t ready for that yet. If she would ever be okay with sharing. It was just so humiliating, she didn’t want Caine to know. The shame of it all burned deep.
Headlights behind them reflected in the mirrors, drawing their attention.
“He’s not giving up, is he?” Caine muttered.
Annalise gripped the armrest tight as their car accelerated some more through the city streets. It was late, and there was minimal traffic on the road, but when Caine blew through a stop sign she couldn’t help but gasp.
“It was an all-way stop. Nobody there,” he reassured her. “We’ll be fine. If we’d come to a stop he would have rear-ended us without thought. That tank of his is a lot bigger than this. One more solid hit and we’ll be in big trouble.”
“Isn’t there anything you can do?” she asked nervously, the lights getting brighter.
Caine hesitated. “Not at this point in time,” he said slowly. Reluctantly.
Annalise wanted to push him, to find out what he wasn’t telling her, but the full-throated growl of an engine sounded moments before Lincoln slammed into the rear of their SUV. The vehicle shook violently, but somehow Caine kept it on the road. He pressed the accelerator down and they practically leapt forward.
Houses flew by on either side of them, and a late-night pedestrian flung himself back onto the sidewalk as they whipped past. She trembled slightly at the realization they’d come this close to hitting him.
“Caine, we need to stop this. Someone innocent is going to get hurt.”
He looked over at her, noting the consternation on her face, the genuine worry for others, for people who had exactly no stake in the high-speed chase. Those were the people that were going to pay the price.
“Close your eyes,” he said, quite obviously coming to a decision he didn’t like. “And keep them closed.”
“What are you going to do?”
He shook his head.
Annalise was unhappy, but with one last glance at Caine she closed her eyes. Why was she trusting him?
Caine’s breathing slowed for a moment, and then behind them came two loud bangs one after another in quick succession. Her eyes flew open and she saw Lincoln’s vehicle swerve left across the oncoming traffic lane and then back into theirs.
“What the hell did you do?” she gasped, looking behind her and seeing that all the tires of the big black SUV were deflated and out of air. Lincoln got out of the vehicle as it came to a halt and raised his hands.
The rear window shattered and a moment later the crack of a gunshot reached her ears.
“CAINE!” she screamed.
“GET DOWN,” he bellowed, reaching over and pushing her head toward her knees, one hand still on the wheel.
Annalise screamed as another gunshot reached them. She thought she heard Caine grunt, but when she looked over at him he was just focused on the roar.
A moment later they turned off the road, and he slowed the car.
“Are you okay?” Caine asked, stopping the vehicle and looking over at her.
“Y-Yes,” she stammered. “He shot at us!”
“Yes. He did.” Caine’s voice was dark, and filled with a cold, icy anger that scared her to her core. She’d never seen this side of him before, but she knew it existed. This was the power in him, the reason he commanded respect everywhere he went. She could feel it now, seeking to rise, to balance the scales against whoever had attacked them.
Caine fought a very visible battle, emotions playing across his face as he tried to calm himself.
“We need to go,” he said roughly, putting the car in gear once more and easing out into the flow of traffic. “Before he comes after us again. We’ll be safe at my place.”
She just nodded, sitting back in the seat as he guided them through the suburbs and into the downtown region.
“Where are you going?” she asked at last.
“We’re here.” He pointed at a building.
“Dragon Towers,” she said, reading the sign before looking up at the big, imposing building. “Great. A tower. I’m stuck in a bloody tower. Is this some sort of fairy tale?”
Caine chuckled as he guided them into the underground parking. “No, this is no fairy tale. This is real life.” He parked and they got out, heading toward what she could only surmise was an elevator. “And you wouldn’t be trapped in here if you would just tell me what I’m up against.”
Annalise shook her head. “Are you going to tell me how you managed to blow out all of Lincoln’s tires without getting out of the car or really doing anything?”
The elevator door opened and after a few seconds’ hesitation she followed him in.
“Ice spikes.”
“What?”
“I used ice spikes to puncture and rip the tires up so he couldn’t follow us.”
Annalise rolled her eyes. “Right. Fine, I get it, you don’t want to tell. But do me a favor and don’t lie to me?”
Caine growled unhappily. “I have never lied to you.”
She leaned back against the wall as they started upward. How is it that he could say that so convincingly, and then turn around and give her some nonsense about ice spikes?
Maybe this wasn’t the person to help her with her situation. After all, he had issues of his own he hadn’t resolved. How could he fix her life if his own was a mess as well?
Annalise had a lot to think about. Unfortunately, with Lincoln out there still, it seemed she was going to have a lot of time trapped in the tower to think about it.